Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An exclamation or oath, especially one that is profane, vulgar, or obscene.
- noun A word or phrase that does not contribute any meaning but is added only to fill out a sentence or a metrical line.
- noun Linguistics A word or other grammatical element that has no meaning but is needed to fill a syntactic position, such as the words it and there in the sentences It's raining and There are many books on the table.
- adjective Added or inserted in order to fill out something, such as a sentence or a metrical line.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Serving to fill up; added to fill a vacancy, or for factitious emphasis: specifically used of words. See II., 2.
- noun Something used to fill up; something not necessary but used for embellishment.
- noun In rhetoric and grammar, a word or syllable which is not necessary to the sense or construction, or to an adequate description of a thing, but which is added for rhetorical, rhythmical, or metrical reasons, or which, being once necessary or significant, has lost notional force.
- noun Hence, by euphemism, an oath; an exclamatory imprecation: as, his conversation was garnished with expletives.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Filling up; hence, added merely for the purpose of filling up; superfluous.
- noun A word, letter, or syllable not necessary to the sense, but inserted to fill a vacancy; an oath.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Serving to
fill up , merely foreffect , otherwise redundant - adjective Marked by expletives (
phrase -fillers ) - noun A
profane ,vulgar term, notably acurse orobscene oath . - noun linguistics A
word withoutmeaning added to fill asyntactic position . - noun linguistics A word that adds to the
strength of aphrase without affecting its meaning.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a word or phrase conveying no independent meaning but added to fill out a sentence or metrical line
- noun profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Your example of the expletive is a good one (“There were mistakes.”)
Global Language Monitor’s debate analysis nonsense (Part 2) « Motivated Grammar 2008
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The expletive is entirely implied, and Politico reports that the Clark campaign insists that the ad not be described as using an expletive.
Clark: Michele Bachmann hasn't done @#%! for her district Emi Kolawole 2010
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I hope they burn in expletive, or get hit by an asteroid.
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Pretty sad when an honest expletive is "your best" act in office, but that's a fair reflection of his sad contribution to American politics.
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I can only imagine that this display of peevishness, combined with you impassioned use of the Anglo-Saxon expletive, is an attempt to stymie your critics with the depth of your feeling rather than the strength of your arguments.
Res Ipsa Loquitur 2008
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How about an expletive from the mouth of Albert Belle?
USATODAY.com - Gonzo's gum? How about Brett's pine tar rag? 2002
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Here the edifying conversation was interrupted by a loud explosive expletive from the buttery, which showed that my grandmother was listening with anything but approbation.
Oldtown Folks 1869
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I recently received an e-mail from a friend stating how the "expletive" - Democrats were trying to steal the election via "expletive" - ACORN registering a "expletive" - bunch of criminals and non-existent, non-entities and how the "expletive, expletive, expletive" - need to be taken out and shot.
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Her onstage patter relied heavily on a certain expletive, and she undercut "Basket Case," the evening's most doleful offering, by dedicating it to "everyone out there who's sad.
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Her onstage patter relied heavily on a certain expletive, and she undercut "Basket Case," the evening's most doleful offering, by dedicating it to "everyone out there who's sad.
In concert: Sara Bareilles at 9:30 Club Click Track 2010
qroqqa commented on the word expletive
In grammar, a word empty of meaning. These include unintegrated fillers such as 'like', 'I mean', 'sort of', as well as nouns such as the dummy subject pronouns 'it' and 'there'. Swear words can be considered expletive if they're uttered out of habit with no intensifying meaning: from this has arisen the practice (outside grammar) of calling all swear words expletives.
July 29, 2008